Lately nothing has been going well for Silverio in Veracruz; his attempt to form a cooperative organization has utterly failed, and with this and other frustrations on his back, he decides to do what no Mexican he knows has ever done before: enter the United States as a Cuban refugee. His buddies help him turn his old VW Beetle into an improvised raft—which he names “el Acorazado Jarocho” (The Veracruzan Battleship)—and he sets sail for Miami. Once again, though, things don’t go quite his way.

There is ample room for both scathing political satire and engaging character development in Acorazado and Curiel’s self- penned script delivers both in satisfying measure. Simon Foster, SBS Film

Alvaro Curiel de Icaza was born in Mexico City in 1973. In the course of his career, he has collaborated with directors Arturo Ripstein, Carlos Cuarón, and Carlos Carrera among others. Acorazado, his first feature film, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Ariel Awards and won the Audience Award at the Morelia International Film Festival.